PureSync : Synchronize and Backup Files in Windows

PureSync is a free Windows application that can be used to synchronize files and folders between two locations, create automated backups, transfer files to & from another computer and copy new digital photos from your digital camera or mobile device. The programs allows you to configure backups and synchronization events using a simple step-by-step wizard mode. It can automatically run a synchronization task when you insert a USB and a particular folder on it is found.

PureSync Personal is free for personal home use. You can upgrade to the paid professional edition which unlocks many other features like FTP backup, encryption of important documents, compression of files to save disk space, e-mail notification, backup of even locked or in-use files etc. You can download PureSync from the JumpingBytes website. The download is around 9 megabytes in size and is a setup installer. After the installation of PureSync, it would place an icon in Windows notification area using which you can quickly access and manage backup and synchronization tasks.

When you run PureSync for the first time, it is not configured to run any job. You have create a new job from its home screen. You can create a new synchronization job or a new backup job. You can also run photo sync to copy files from your digital camera or transfer files from/to another computer connected across your network from the home screen. The new job creation wizard for synchronization job shows you two folders to choose from. The folder on the left side is usually the source folder while the one on the right side is usually the destination folder.

During the wizard, you are shown options to exclude or include certain type of files. You can also set how file deletion operations are reflected between the two folders. You can set it to synchronize automatically at various events like logon/logoff, when a device is connected, when a certain folder is found, when a particular file is modified etc. You can also schedule the job using the Windows scheduler service. You can choose a program or command to be run after the synchronization is finished, for example, you can run Windows Explorer or shutdown Windows etc.

The wizard for creating a new backup job is similar. In the backup job wizard you have to choose between a regular backup and a mirror. The mirror (also called echo) is similar to backup only the files deleted in source folder shall also be deleted in the destination folder. After you have created a new job, you can run it from the home screen. Just select the job and click on the Start button.

The job whether its synchronization or backup, is going to copy all the files to the destination folder based on the rules and settings you have set. After the job has run at least one time, you can press the F5 button to compare the source and destination folders and see the differences. You can run the job by pressing the F8 button. This compare feature is very useful to find out which files are new and different between the source and the destination folder.

In addition to the synchronization and backup features, PureSync also allows you to copy files from your digital camera. The way it copies files are different from manually copying files. If you use PureSync, then it would only copy newer photos from your digital camera. You can also set it to automatically detect when you connect your devices to your computer and start copying the files.

PureSync is a very fast and feature rich synchronization and backup tool. It is a set and forget type of application, as it is capable of running the jobs automatically and keeps your backups always up-to-date. The professional edition also has advanced features like backup across FTP, compression and encryption etc.